


If I Were Braver

by sunrealbreath



Category: Naruto
Genre: Action/Adventure, BAMF Haruno Sakura, BAMF Uchiha Sasuke, BAMF Uzumaki Naruto, Character Development, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 (Naruto) Feels, Gen, Horror, Implied Relationships, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mystery, Naruto is Just Naruto, One-Sided Haruno Sakura/Uchiha Sasuke, POV Multiple, Parent Hatake Kakashi, Protective Hatake Kakashi, Protective Uchiha Sasuke, Psychological Horror, Psychological Trauma, Spooky, Thriller, Uchiha Sasuke & Uzumaki Naruto Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-13
Updated: 2018-11-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 01:18:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16609109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunrealbreath/pseuds/sunrealbreath
Summary: A mission takes an unexpected turn for Team 7 in a neighboring village, one that they couldn't have been prepared for. The village is full of secrets, the townspeople are fearful of the shadows, and all the while the team must figure out how to apprehend a mysterious and malicious killer.Set after the events of the chunin exams arc.





	1. Prologue

Light blinked off the metal of an aged plaque. The scent of rust filled the air as the sound of dripping water kept time with the passing seconds.

By sheer coincidence, which occurred in this world all too often, one drop was altered by a touch of wind. It’s path from stone to well changed, just slightly, and landed on the metal. The drop burst into several, filling the etched pattern, then fell, past a matted fringe, over a bone forehead, and into an open mouth. It had not tasted water in years, nor sake, nor yakisoba. No tongue to tell. It was posed, as though in a showing window. One hand gripping a kunai, the other raised as if to hide its face. Its legs were gone.

Another drop fell into the corpse’s mouth, and in lieu of a tongue, a dark creature emerged one leg at a time. The legs seemed to extend like shadows to the ground before the corpse, and the form of the spider transformed into that of a young human boy. Once it stood, it raised its arms, and smiled wide. The drips were accompanied to a symphony of the creature’s bone and muscle snapping into its new body. Once the inhuman features were tucked beneath the skin, the creature opened its eyes- shining black orbs.

It spun slowly, noticing the corpse below it and laughed. It sounded like the earth grinding against itself.

“Who knew in trying to slay me, you would become my salvation?” The creature whispered, and caressed the corpse’s hair. It tapped the metal on its headband, and grasped the cloth, the knot so old it came undone with a slight tug. The corpse listed to the side, collapsing on its back at last to rest.

The creature examined the plaque. A symbol of a leaf with a swirl in the center. He knew that mark well.

“Now, to find Mother.”


	2. Changes

_SAKURA_

 

 

Sakura woke to the sound of a tea kettle shrieking, and promptly panicked. Her mother was making tea. The sun bloomed high in the sky. She was late.

She scrambled out of bed and into her mission gear, uniform, weapons pouch, holster, headband. She hadn’t cut her hair in a while, so it hung past her chin. No time to cut it, so she quickly tied it up in a messy bun on her way out the door and through the apartment. She graced her mother with a quick “Good morning! No time!” and ran out the door. Or she would have.

If it weren’t locked.

In that hesitation before trying the door and unlatching it, her mother appeared to stop her. Sakura froze immediately at the look on her face. It was a _we need to talk_ face, and it terrified her.

“I’m late for training, Mom.”

“Don’t worry about that,” her mother said brusquely.

“But-“

“I said don’t worry. Now your father and I need to talk with you. Go sit.”

Sakura’s reply was cut off again at the look on her face, and quietly went to sit. One of the many frustrating things about having civilian parents was their complete lack of understanding in regards to her responsibilities. Her parents were under the impression that being a genin was something akin to being in a club or a part-time job, rather than a _sworn duty._  Sakura had worked all her life to be ninja. But to her parents, she would always be a Haruno, and their daughter, first. So, it seemed she was going to be even later for their meeting today. Kakashi had sent out a summons late the night before telling the team to be ready to go by early morning. Sakura suspected it must be another task relating to reconstruction in the village.

It had been about a month since the disastrous end of the chunin exams. And even less time had passed since the Lady Tsunade had been named the fifth Hokage. The village was still very much in shambles from the attack, and there were many losses including the third Hokage. It was certainly a time of upheaval and confusion. For their team especially. Her fight in the Forest of Death. The curse seal. Orochimaru’s attack. Sasuke’s coma and miraculous recovery thanks to the new Hokage. The past few weeks had been a whirlwind of stress and change. Sakura was still reeling from it.

However, in the last few days, things had begun to return to a kind of normal. The team was accepting missions again for one thing. It had been so long since the three of them had worked together. It seemed like the time apart had changed them all.

All except, she feared, for herself. While Naruto and Sasuke seemed to be getting ridiculously stronger, even though Sasuke had only recently been released from the hospital, Sakura felt she was quite stagnant. Her inner self railed at this. How could she expect to ever win Sasuke’s heart when she was such a weakling? How could she expect to be a ninja as such a reliability on the team?

Without Kakashi-sensei or Sasuke or even Naruto, she had no one to train with. She had started spending her time visiting Sasuke and Lee in the infirmary. She found that so many of her friends, ninja and civilian, had been injured, so she put her efforts towards hoping for their recovery and helping however she could. She had spent so much time in the hospital the nursing staff had begun to refer to her by name, and in the flux of patients had sometimes asked her for assistance in running errands. Sometimes it was fetching equipment like bandages and medicine. Sometimes it was as simple as spending time with the patients and giving them emotional support.

When she had seen how Lady Tsunade was able to heal Sasuke with a single touch, she was immediately overcome with joy at his recovery. She was also filled with admiration for Tsunade. She had seen the work of many med-nin at the hospital; several had made their own attempts at helping Sasuke, but none had been so skilled as Tsunade. She thought she would make a decent Hokage and was especially pleased with her ability to deal with Naruto. She wished she could have that skill and strength.

Sakura’s father was already waiting in the sitting area, missing his usual morning paper and distracted expression. Today, he had a solemn demeanor, and only acknowledged Sakura with a tilt of the head to sit down in the adjacent couch. Her mother joined them moments later with a tray of tea. Jasmine, it seemed.

The Haruno’s shared a moment of silence and their cups of tea, but the tension was palpable to say the least. Whatever was going on, Sakura inwardly panicked, wasn't going to be good for her at all. She had a sinking feeling of where this conversation might be headed. She had been affected by the devastation of the attack, but she thought her parents might have been even more so. She often heard them talking about the horrors of the last ninja war. She saw how they reacted to the destruction of the village and the sight of bloody tarps. Occasionally, they cringed at the sight of her own bloody clothes when she forgot to change into clean ones before coming home after a tough day.

“So,” her father started (after a pointed glare from his wife) “You’re going out on missions again, hmm?”

Sakura nodded. “Is somethi-?” She was stopped short again by her mother, who gave a _go on_  look to her father.

He coughed. “We would like to know what kind of missions you’ll be taking. Exactly how dangerous are they?”

Sakura inwardly sighed, “I can’t say, Dad. You never know how dangerous a mission is going to be until it’s over.”

Her parents shared a look. “That’s not what we were told when you entered this line of work, Sakura. Not _at all._ ”

‘When we entered you into the academy, it was so you could get the best education available, not to become a ninja. We want you to be happy, Sakura.” Her mother held up a hand. “And we always knew it would be dangerous. But this is crossing the line.”

Sakura felt her stomach slowly descend to her feet. This definitely didn’t sound good.

“When you passed that test, I was happy that you were happy.” Dad said, “I know it’s been your goal for a long time. But I also knew that it was going to be hard for you. Just-“

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this.” Her mother finished. “You are a _child._ All of you are children. Well,” She paused here, frowning. “You’re all very _young._ We thought that you would be taking assignments that you were capable of. We thought there was a system in place so you wouldn’t be put in harm’s way. These exams- These attacks- Even that mission from before the exams. You were almost killed by a _rogue-nin_!”

She was getting worked up, so Dad interjected.  

“We’re concerned for you. Like I said, I know this is what you want. Or what you _think_ you want.”

Sakura waited with her fists balled in her lap.

“Your mother and I think it would be best if you quit.”

“Quit?” Sakura whispered.

“You are not going to be a ninja anymore,” her mother said, “That’s final.”

At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Sakura sat perfectly still in her spot. She watched without turning her head as her mother went to answer the door. She felt something wet drip onto her hand.

“Um, hiya.” Naruto said from the doorway, “Oh! Hey Sakura-chan! You’re late for the mission, tebayo! Kakashi-sensei sent me to come getcha! It would’ve been stupid Sasuke but he didn’t wan- I mean! I totally beat him up so he couldn’t come so here I am!”

He must have tried to come in, the idiot, because there was the sound of a door stopping a body from pushing it open.

“Oh, uh. Sorry, lady,”

“You’re Sakura’s… teammate, correct?” Sakura winced at the hidden disdain in her voice. “Well, I’m sorry. But she won’t be coming today. You can tell your sensei she won’t be coming tomorrow either.”

“Eh? Sakura-chan? What-?”

“Now please leave. This is a private affair.” And with that, she shut the door.

She sighed. “I know this is hard for you to hear, Sakura dear. But we’re doing what’s best for you. As much as it pains me, I would rather have you alive and angry with me, than happy and… Sakura?”

Her father turned with a start. Sakura was no longer sitting on the couch. And the window to her room was wide open.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave comments below! I'm especially interested to see what you thought of Sakura's characterization. I kept it really internal here because I just love her character and I plan to give her the development she deserved in the main series.  
> We'll get to see Sasuke's POV next. He's my favorite and we're going to look at his internal thoughts regarding the exams and Orochimaru. Largely his psyche is where the psychological trauma is going to come into play as I'm really interested in portraying what that looks like. No glossing over major trauma here!  
> Things are going to pick up in the next installment, I swear.  
> Thank you for reading!


End file.
